-John Wooden
If you are consistently training, facing weaknesses headlong, rising up after getting stapled to the floor from something heavy to try again, and in general trying to out-perform your last 'best' effort, than I would like to extend a notion of thanks your way.
Coffee and Squats is about doing what needs to be done regardless of circumstance in pursuit of making yourself happiest. No, I did not say strong, or ripped, I said happiest. Whatever you are doing in life will only serve you insofar as it makes you happy. That is why the secret to happiness is as follows in two points: 1. Find out what you want in life. 2. Go get it. Whatever gets in the way of that can be overcome if the goal sought is clearly something that will yield happiness.
Physical and mental limits often precede the point where people stop pursuing this. Are you tired? Drink coffee. Are you feeling weak physically and mentally? Put a bar and your back and squat.
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Most often the people that are seeking help are not the ones who need it the most, they have the higher IQ or intuition to know that they need a change and are just going about figuring out how to make it happen. They just need a little kick in the butt at the right times, a kind word here and there, and someone to make sure they stay on track.
However, every once in awhile someone falls into that group that hasn't done the initial work of realizing the model they use to find happiness is the issue and, that they need to change the idea before asking for help. These people generally come off as the "do-it-for-me" types who view the money they throw at those providing help is all they need to do to affect change in their lives.
The people in this second group provide unending frustration to a coach who wants nothing more than to give every bit of knowledge they have ever known to help you succeed, while in return the person is not willing to give up the old life for a new one. That group of people is another blog in itself... however both groups can benefit from the paradigm I am dubbing "Supersonic Insta-grati-happy-fun-time".
Stop and reflect for a moment, was there a time that you saw some grandiose natural feature (a canyon, or a sunset on an ocean, etc..) and you felt a sense of serenity? At that instant, if for only an instant, I believe you decided to accept the universe as it was. You didn't feel it necessary to change the scenery, such as, "What a beautiful waterfall...if only it was a bit larger, then I would be ever-more pleased". No, that didn't happen because just as it was, you felt it was right.
Now, why don't you have that serene mindset every day? Why don't you wake up resonating with a feeling of being blessed that you may pursue whatever it is you are pursuing and that each moment an opportunity to get further towards it? I believe it lays in the fact that the model most of us use to reach happiness is dependent on the "If; Then" model. If blah blah blah happens, then I'll be happy. But thats not how it works, is it?
Example of "If; Then":
If I get 10 pull-ups in a row, then I'll be happy with my efforts.
...Nine pull-ups later you fall off the bar and start deeming yourself an inadequate athlete whom should never have attempted such a feat.
What if you had started viewing it as a process rather than an outcome?
I get to do pull-ups today, I'm going to make these the best pull-ups I have ever done. I wonder, how many perfect pull-ups am I capable of?
...Nine pull-ups later you think, That was hard but nine perfect ones are more than I had last time!
Anything you can get such as physical strength, material possessions, a circle of friends, etc - you can also lose. The things you can get can be very nice, and give you a great feeling - for a time - but the feeling accompanied by their loss when you have tied your personal happiness to them is overwhelmingly paralyzing and can lead to a depressed state.
It is vital that you understand that in all of life outcomes are very rarely in our control. What is in your control is the process by which you live your life. Doing your best in every situation not only lends itself toward seeing the best outcome, but is also something that won't go away when you look into the mirror.
Remember, you choose to drink the coffee and get under the bar. It makes you happy. If it doesn't, then don't.
Coffee & Squats!
